- Former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock was to join the UN to work on African economic recovery.
- But three days after the announcement, the UN has withdrawn their offer.
- No explanation was given as to why.
Former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock's new role at the UN has been withdrawn three days after it was announced.
Hancock, who resigned from his ministerial role after a public scandal when he was caught on CCTV having an affair with one of his aides, was announced to have been offered a role with the UN helping African economies recover from COVID-19.
However, just 72 hours after the announcement, the UN said that the offer of this role had been withdrawn.
Speaking to Pass Blue, a news suite specializing in UN affairs, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said: "Mr. Hancock's appointment by the UN Economic Commission for Africa is not being taken forward. ECA has advised him of the matter."
No explanation has yet been given for why the offer was rescinded.
Hancock's new role was to be "UN special representative on financial innovation and climate change for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa."
It was quickly removed from his Twitter bio, but not his LinkedIn description.
The appointment was controversial, coming on the day that a report by MPs said the government's response to the COVID-19 was the worst public health failure ever.
The campaign group Global Justice Now, which is working on getting worldwide provisions of the COVID-19 vaccines, welcomed the news.
Nick Dearden, the director of the organization, told the BBC: "If Matt Hancock wants to help African countries recover from the pandemic, he should lobby the prime minister to back a patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines.
"If he'd done that when he was in government, tens of millions more people could already have been vaccinated.
"The last thing the African continent needs is a failed British politician. This isn't the 19th century."